Dismissing speculations of him asking out-of-favour former skipper Babar Azam to take up the dual role of wicketkeeping to keep his place in Pakistan’s T20I side, new white-ball coach Mike Hesson clarified that the seasoned batter is only competing for the opener’s slot while insisting that he is working on areas to improve on his strike rate that has come under heavy criticism over the past couple of years.
“Firstly, Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option, no,” Hesson said after the right-handed batter was once again not picked for the upcoming series against Bangladesh.
“Not sure where that came from, but I have heard that speculation. Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. But obviously, we have Fakhar (Zaman) and Saim (Ayub) in those two roles at the moment, so he’s competing for that.”
Following reports of Hesson’s suggestion to Babar, several former players criticised the former New Zealand coach. Rashid Latif, Basit Ali, Moin Khan, and Sikander Bakht all expressed their displeasure.
On being probed about his strike rate in the shortest format, Hesson said he wanted Pakistan to catch up with the rest of the world in their approach.
“No doubt strike rate is important in T20 cricket, but you have to combine it with a volume of runs,” Hesson said.
“There’s a good reason why our ranking in T20 cricket is as low as it is, because our strike rates from a batting point of view are not high enough. We certainly made some shifts in that last series to play a more expansive game of cricket and probably catch up with the rest of the world, as that is the way the modern game is.
“Babar is one of many who have the ability to make those improvements. And I’m here to work with them and help them. In the last month or so, he’s made some really good changes. It’s not just a matter of going from 125 to 150, it’s a matter of increasing what you can offer because we’re no doubt often 30-40 runs short with the bat. So, we need to find a way of getting that,” he added.
Hesson further said that he is working closely with the selection committee in identifying players who can do multiple roles for the team when it comes to the shortest format of the game.
“We are looking at players who are ready to float in the batting order and perform multiple roles, but that does not mean there will be no spot for specialist players,” Hesson said.
Pakistan have a busy T20 schedule as they look to rebuild for the next T20 World Cup in February-March 2026. They failed to make it past the group stages of the 2024 edition, a forgettable campaign which included a loss to the USA.
For now, Hesson is focused on getting the basics right as his side gears up in a week-long training camp for his maiden assignment in Bangladesh.
“This camp is about identifying key areas where we need to work on. And then putting the boys under a bit of pressure. I think we’ve identified, even in the short time we’ve had with them, even with the last series, that there are some real fundamentals that we need to work on as a group. And that’s why we have a week with them. The first few days will be around those, and then we’ll start to have a more specific focus for Bangladesh,” he said.